Béla Fleck

Sometime in the late 80’s I was sprawled out in my buddy’s parents’ living room in my faded purple tie dye (Note: apparel reference is fictitious but you get the point). I was reading Rolling Stone, as I often did in those days. In the midst of the pages filled with Van Halen and Men at Work was a two-page spread on a band called Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Interesting name me thinks. I read the article, ran down to the local music store, and bought what I think was UFO Tofu – I have been an avid fan ever since.

I saw Béla Fleck and the Flecktones play several times long before I ever met Béla, who I finally did meet at the All Good Music Festival in MD in the mid 90’s. I was tongue-tied and awkward. That is however where I learned how to pronounce his name Bay-la vs. Be La – I believe. I met Béla Fleck a few more times over the years. Much like my encounters with Mike Gordon, they were brief and in the context of benefit shows, side stage at festivals, etc. What was cool was at some point in trying to place myself into context, I mentioned that I played in Strangefolk and he remembered the band, and liked our music. I had a bookmark in the master banjo man’s mind – note to self.

When I set out to wrangle up some uber talent for this record, Béla Fleck was amongst the first I called on. Much to my delight he was one of the first to accept my invitation. The track he performs on had a guitar part written by Adam Terrell (AOD Guitarist) that sounded like a banjo. So it seemed like a no-brainer. Béla nailed it and added a depth and intricacy to the song that brings it to life, helping it mature over the length of the song. It’s one of my favorites on the album and I’m thrilled he was able to make a contribution. As an aside, I’m pretty sure he did it in a hotel room somewhere on Flecktones tour.